Back Up

by Paul Colize, Louise Rogers Lalaurie (Translator)

Berlin, 1967: four members of the British rock band Pearl Harbor die at the same time but in separate locations. Inexplicably, the police conclude natural causes are to blame.

Brussels, 2010: A homeless man is hit by a car outside the Gare du Midi, leaving him with locked-in syndrome, able to communicate (sometimes) by blinking.

An Irish journalist's interest is piqued. How did the members of Pearl Harbor die, and how is this linked to the homeless man in Brussels?

Genres: Crime, Thriller, Fiction, France, Music, Mystery

368 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2012

Reviews

[Paromjit · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a French translated novel that does an extraordinary job in charting musical history from the beginnings of rock and roll through to the drug fuelled haze of the 1970s, informed by a wide variety of seminal musical tracks from the era, such as the likes of Chuck Berry, The Who and The Beatles. The settings shifts from Germany, France, Britain and Belgium as it trawls through the life and history of a man in a coma. It blends fact and fiction as we journey into the past to arrive at the truth in the present. In 1967, the four British members of the rock band Pearl Harbour complete an album in Berlin. Within a period of a week, all the members of the group die in four separate incidents, all in a different manner, and all in different places with the police deeming them as non suspicious. Only the families of the members are concerned, otherwise these deaths are largely unnoticed, and those who do see them as noteworthy end up dying.

The narrative is delivered from the perspective of a range of characters as it moves back and forth in time from the past to the present. Forty three years later from these events, in Brussels, an unknown homeless man steps in front of a car in the front of a station. Named X Midi after the station, he is diagnosed as being in a coma. Trapped in locked in syndrome, we come to understand who he is as we find out about his history and life right up to his arrival in 1967 in Berlin through his memories. At a rehabilitation centre, he communicates with his physiotherapists through blinking! This is a thoroughly compelling conspiracy thriller built up around an interesting concept amidst a fabulous musical background. I loved the gripping and intelligent story, finding it highly engaging and entertaining, with believable twists until the final reveal. Highly Recommended! Many thanks to Oneworld Publications for an ARC.

[Leo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave it 3 stars because this wasn't quite my thing, however it's well written and well crafted and I definitely suggest that you'll give it a try if it sounds like something for you. It's part set in Berlin in 1967 when four members of a British rock band dies, sperated but similar times and it deemed as natural causes and then set in 2010 Brussels when a homeless man is hit by a care that leave him in locked-in syndrome. And the question is how is the two cases linked? I think it's a unique concept and it's well made, but not my thing.

[Raven · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t believe how long Back Up has languished on my TBR pile, as this tale of rock ‘n’ roll and murder by Paul Colize was just brilliant from start to finish. As members of a sixties rock band start to meet their deaths in troubling ways, the story criss-crosses between past and present, weaving their story with a mysterious man hospitalised with locked in syndrome. The evocation of one of the most important periods in the development of popular music was perfectly depicted, with numerous references to the known and lesser known artists of the period, in addition to the cleverly crafted murder mystery that lies at the heart of it. Colize’s characterisation, and expression of the strengths and weaknesses of the human psyche was never less than masterful, and the sinister undertones of the reasons for the self destruction of these young men was truly chilling. Excellent.

[Manon Moon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lire si vous aimez le rock, l'al****, les produits illicites et le coït.

Les chapitres courts✨🤙

[Adelyne · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded down. Incredibly clever and beautifully crafted story, I sped through as I really wanted to know how everything eventually comes together. Only dropped points for an ending that I found disappointing as it was overly abrupt. More thoughts to follow.

[Kath · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my goodness, this book took me places that I never dreamed we would go! Set in two timelines, the 1960s onwards, and 2010 and crossing multiple countries, it's a saga of a journey that really has a bit of everything.
In the latter timeline, an unknown man is involved in an accident in Brussels, leaving him first unconscious and then suffering from locked-in syndrome. He is named for the station his accident occurred at, X Midi.
In the former, in Germany, we follow the rise and fall of British band Pearl Harbour who all die within days of each other, in separate locations, all from accidents / natural causes. Coincidence?
We then go on a really rather special journey through the emergence of rock music in the 60s as we follow the life of Midi X both in the present and the past.
We are also introduced to an enthusiastic, Irish journalist whose interest has been piqued by the rock group's members' "accidents" and is determined to get to the bottom of things as he believes that there is much, much more to it than at first glance.
What he discovers is really rather shocking!
But, what is the link between Midi X and Pearl Harbour? Well, you'll just have to read this book to find out; my lips are staying very firmly sealed.
Well, when we eventually got to the nitty gritty of the situation surrounding PH, I was really rather shocked to say the least! Wow, I had no idea we were going there. But, there we went and, although I am not an expert, what was uncovered and explained did come across as completely credible and, on the back of that, a little bit scared...
Yes, the book did time and place hop a fair few times. A consequence of this also being that we were introduced to a fair few characters along the way. It also switched perspective quite a bit. Yes, I have to admit initially finding all this a bit busy and got a tad dazed and confused initially but, after a while, it all settled down in my head and I just got on with it all quite swimmingly.
One of the brilliant things about this book was the trip through the ages. The amount of history from all fields contained within the pages was not insignificant but, at the same time, pertinent to the main storyline running throughout.
Some of my initial struggles could also have been down to the translation. But again, as with other translated books I have read, once you get into the style of the translator and their vocabulary, it again all settled down nicely.
The thing that I really loved about this book was the rehab centre and the way that X Midi's physio interacted with him. Firstly very one-sided but, as time went on and X Midi's condition improved, the way that he had the tools and keys to unlock more of his mind. A really rather special person and relationship.
And the ending, well, that was just sublime and very apt and fitting for the tone of the book as a whole. Well done Mr Colize.
Now the sad part. Having found this wonderful author with a really impressive back catalogue, I am
quite sad to see nothing else that has been translated into English. I really don't think my O'Level French will quite cut it. Hopefully, this one will do well enough for someone to rectify this. I for one would really love this.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This crime thriller by Belgian writer Paul Colize about a British rock band was short-listed for a number of prizes when first released. Only now available in English, the book should find a natural home and receptive audience among rock fans everywhere.
It’s 1967. The rock band Pearl Harbor is taking a break after a hastily organized, late night Berlin recording session, and its four members have scattered. Within days, each of them is dead and unaccountably flush with cash. One is found at the bottom of a pool in a luxury hotel in Palma de Mallorca, one with a bullet in his head in a hotel room in Hamburg, one crushed under a train in a Berlin U-Bahn station, and one who was apparently hiding out in a London hotel and jumped from his fifth floor room.
Who could believe all these deaths were coincidental? The authorities, with their scattered jurisdictions and the differing modes of death believe it, especially when the bodies—and the victims’ histories—reveal alarmingly high levels of drug and alcohol abuse. The band members become no more than rock n roll detritus, washed up by the tide of 1960s counterculture. It’s a bang-up start to this well-constructed mystery.
Fast forward to 2010. In Brussels, a homeless man is hit by a car near the Gare du Midi train station. He’s badly injured, cannot speak, cannot be identified, and comes to be known as X Midi. You are privileged to read his thoughts, however, as he recuperates. He reconstructs his past and his fleeting but deadly association with Pearl Harbor in chapters that alternate with those narrated by his caretakers. They are trying with infinite patience to help him recover from locked-in syndrome, which leaves him almost totally incapable of communicating.
Drug and alcohol use is part of the immersive environment Colize creates and manages not to become tedious. Rumors of U.S. military involvement in the testing psychoactive drugs simmer. There’s lots of music-making too, which is filled with energy and considerable joy. Berlin’s rock scene takes place in bars and nightclubs, and the bartenders and denizens are portrayed convincingly.
Nevertheless, you may be grateful when X Midi’s narrative emerges from his substance-abusing days to confront the deeper and more sinister evil dogging him. Only gradually does he come to understand the true significance of Pear Harbor’s fateful and final recording session, in which he served as the substitute drummer. The back up.

[Harry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found the book to be brilliant. A mystery novel with a rich music history woven into the story and characters. The summary of the book was slightly misleading, though it could have been intentionally done this way in order to make a few of the sudden turns more shocking and more, well, sudden. I would think juggling 3 overlapping narratives would have been hard to do, but I though that Colize did an excellent job of it. The ending left some things unanswered, though I also think that was intentional for the sake of leaving an ambiguous ending. Two possible answers, one of which is outlandish and seemingly fake, but could be corroborated by others. the other answer giving the readers someone who was delusional, immediately changing the meaning behind many of these events. I would love to read another novel by Colize

[Kiwinini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un petit bijou de l'histoire du rock n'roll ... On traverse les années 60 avec des mélodies incontournables en tête !! L'intrigue plus "policière" passe pour moi un petit peu au second plan ... par contre, le portrait de la société des années 60-70 vaut clairement de se plonger dans le bouquin ... Un bouquin qui m'a fait passer qqs nuits blanches (je ne peux que confirmer le fait d'avoir été addict relativement tôt dans l'histoire pour être incapable de ne pas lire la prochaine page, le prochain chapitre, la suite ... jusqu'a la fin !!). On se retrouve dans ce livre un peu comme le héros en locked-in syndrome : plein d'émotions différentes nous traversent, nous bouleversent et pourtant nous restons là, les yeux rivés sur ces pages ...

[Michael Bohli · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Back Up" versucht sich selber zu überlisten. Das Buch von Paul Colize erzählt in mehreren Zeitebenen die mysteriöse Geschichte um eine Albumaufzeichnung von "Pearl Harbor", einer fiktiven Band, in den 60ern. Daneben versucht der Leser die Geschehnisse der heutigen Zeit mit den Mordfällen von damals und den Erinnerungen einer Person zu verbinden.

Dies klappt leider oft nur harzig, der Autor wollte zu schnell zu viel. Somit werden gewisse Lösungen und Erklärungen fallen gelassen, die Geschichte stellt sich also doch weniger spritzig als gedacht heraus. Bücher über erfundene Bandkarrieren mag ich sehr gerne, besonders wenn es noch mit einem Krimi und den Eigenheiten vergangener Zeiten kombiniert wird. Dennoch fehlt "Back Up" teilweise die Dichtheit. Etwas weniger wäre mehr gewesen.

[Elaine Tomasso · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would like to thank Netgalley and Oneworld Publications for an advance copy of Back Up.

In 1967 the four members of rock band Pearl Harbour die separately within a week of each other. In 2011 an unidentified man, known as X Midi after the station where it happened, throws himself in front of a car and suffers from locked in syndrome. The novel explores X Midi's past to explain what happened.

I thoroughly enjoyed Back Up which is very different to my usual fare as it ventures deep into conspiracy territory but, as with all the best conspiracy theories, it is fairly believable or, at least, not beyond the realms of possibility. Initially I found the novel annoying with its shifting timeline and perspectives, just I got used to one character it switched to a first person narrative, then on to another character so it is difficult to get immersed in the narrative. I soon, however, got the hang of it and found it difficult to put down. X Midi's first person narrative drives the novel in the form of his memories and experiences, interspersed with events from a journalist's late sixties investigation and his present day interaction with his physiotherapist- if blinking can be called interaction.

This is a haunting novel which provides much food for thought from the possibilities of the conspiracy to X Midi's mental health. There is no doubt that he is an extremely strange man whether due to mental illness or the copious consumption of drugs and alcohol and it makes the reader question his reliability. Despite this he is a sympathetic character much loved by his friends. I loved his ill equipped quest for the truth.

Mr Colize has produced an unusual novel of imagination (or is it?). It is well paced with the reveals coming at an even pace and absorbing once you get used to the uneven style. I am very impressed with its premise, style and readability so I have no hesitation in recommending it as a good read.

[Alex-Mot-à-Mots · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un auteur que je n’avais pas encore lu, à tord. Je profite de la ré-édition bienvenue de La manufacture des livres pour me plonger dans ce roman.

Quel rapport entre la mort en 1967 des musiciens du groupe de rock Pearl Harbor et un SDF renversé par une voiture à Bruxelles en 2010 ? Lorsque l’homme se réveille sur un lit d’hôpital, il est victime du Locked-in Syndrome, incapable de bouger et de communiquer.

Pour comprendre ce qui lui est arrivé, il tente de reconstituer le puzzle de sa vie.

Des caves enfumées de Paris, Londres et Berlin, où se croisent les Beatles, les Stones, Clapton et les Who, à l’enfer du Vietnam, il se souvient de l’effervescence et de la folie des années 1960, quand tout a commencé…

J’ai aimé cette plongée dans l’Europe des années 60-70 où la drogue et le rock n’roll font leur apparition.

J’ai suivi les souvenirs de X Midi, le personnage principal dont on ne connaitra le nom qu’à la fin du roman ; les soins que lui prodigue Dominique et qui finira par percer son mystère.

Ce polar plein de fausses pistes nous révèle une formidable machination orchestrée par la CIA depuis l’Allemagne de l’Ouest.

Une lecture passionnante et addictive.

L’image que je retiendrai :

Celle des petits groupes de rock se produisant dans des petites salles.

https://alexmotamots.fr/back-up-paul-...

[Darren Gore · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1967, all four members of a British rock group die in different locations across Europe. Were their deaths somehow connected - and were those tragedies what they seem? Soon after, an Irish journalist begins investigating.

In 2010, a homeless man in Brussels is hit by a car and badly injured. Suffering from locked-in syndrome, and with no identity, he begins a long process of recovery in a rural clinic.

How are these two series of events more than 40 years apart connected?

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Paul Colize's Back Up to find out. This was partly because up until the connection is made, it was an engrossing story about the journalist's investigation and the homeless man's troubled '60s young adulthood...

...and then after a brief but unsettling incident in the uneasy West Berlin of 1967, 'Back Up' takes a stunning turn. The story becomes even more engrossing, sinister and tragic, and it stays that way right up until the last sentence.

Back Up is a moving and riveting combination of mystery and modern historical odyssey.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well-written and absorbing book that presents an interesting mystery involving a 1960's British rock and roll band and a present day injured homeless man. This book does a nice job of blending the musical history of that genre with a gripping story. I though the story was unique and gave lots of information that I hadn't heard.
My only slight problem was that it took me some time to adjust to the shifting perspectives and time frames but I managed to straighten it out after awhile.
Bottom line, this is a book worth reading.
I won a copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway for this honest review.

[Helge Pedersen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve rated this book on its genre, a crime novel. Even though this book might appeal to people who are very invested in early rock music and the rock/rocknroll movement, I can’t say I enjoyed it too much. There was no point where I was on the edge of my seat with a racing heartbeat, or so invested in the book that I had to keep reading. The work the author have done on the rock music movement is very impressive, and if you really enjoy that era, then maybe you’ll enjoy this book more than I did.

[Isabelle Larocque · Rating 4 out of 5]

Si vous vous attendez à un suspense, oubliez tout de suite, ce n'est pas ca du tout. Pour moi, "l'intrigue" commence à 60% du livre, parce que ce n'est pas ce que je m'attendais. L'intérêt est dans le développement de l'histoire du personnage principal et la lente progression de la découverte de qui il est. J'ai beaucoup aimé ce roman qui n'est pas dans mes habitudes de lecture et je lirai som nouveau dès qu'il sera disponible en kindle

[Nathan]

Started great, but gradually lost me. I pulled the cord at the 150-page mark.

[Andrew Macfarlane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite brilliant. Unravels the story brilliantly

[Tolkien InMySleep · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best Belgian conspiracy-theory thriller I've ever read ...

[Darren Dyke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dark.

[Jessica Peddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An okay holiday read, if slightly on the boring side.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written easy read.

[Okenwillow · Rating 2 out of 5]

...Bref, l’un dans l’autre, une lecture agréable, un dépaysement certain, des personnages intéressants, mais une intrigue très sous-exploitée et un suspens quasi-absent. Ce qui pour un polar est quand même embêtant.
[Vous pouvez lire la suite sur mon blog, merci :)]

[Susie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superbe roman noir. Bien recherché, bien écrit.

[Valeriane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Juste.... énorme!

Un livre dévoré de début à la fin.